KONY 2012 – A documentary film about the little-known conflict that has devastated Uganda since the early 1980s has become a surprise viral hit, being viewed nearly 4 million times in two days.

Kony 2012, named after the infamous leader of Christian terrorist group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), is a film and campaign by humanitarian group Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, “not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice”.

The documentary describes the plight of Uganda through the eyes of a former LRA child soldier, Jacob, and the director Jason Russell’s American son, Gavin, who doesn’t know who Kony is.

The film focuses heavily on the issue of child soldiers, with Kony’s LRA reportedly having up to 30,000 boys and girls who are used as soldiers and sex slaves.

Kony is alleged to have fathered over 200 children during his 26 years on the run from the Ugandan government.

The half-hour film has been so successful its makers have obliterated their target of 500,000 Facebook shares, already registering over 3.5 million. The growing interest has also caused their website to crash under the huge demand.

Invisible Children, an activist group that campaigns to end genocide and crimes against humanity, said the goal of Kony 2012 was to raise awareness about one of the world’s most brutal warlords in an effort to expedite his arrest.

The documentary has also called on supporters to act on April 20, 2012.

“This is the day when we will meet at sundown and blanket every street in every city until the sun comes up. The rest of the world will go to bed Friday night and wake up to hundreds of thousands of posters demanding justice,” Russell said.

Kony, who wants to implement a theocratic government in Uganda based on the Ten Commandments, was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2006 for war crimes but has evaded capture.

Viewers of the film have expressed shock and anger at the events taking place in Uganda and many have pledged to do what they can to help, including celebrities Rihanna, George Clooney and Ellen DeGeneres.

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people”, says Victor Borge. According to many doctors, healthcare professionals and patients, laughter bridges the gap between two souls. It is known to be the cure to several ailments and diseases and some scientists also believe that laughter triggers endorphins in the body that are known to make you happy and also reduce pain. Several international celebrities, such as Robin Williams, have opened laughter therapy institutes in the West and even in India, the concept of laughter clubs is gaining popularity. In a typical laughter club session, a bunch of people gather in a circle in a park and laugh together. What starts off as forced laughter turns into a full-fledged laughter and heals the mind and body of all stress and tension. Such is the power of laughter that the UK government has gone ahead and hired comedians to cure the sick and elderly in hospitals and old age homes. It is as they say, “faith in anything has positive results”. Run through the following and have faith! Preventive and therapeutic laughter is sure to sweep you off your feet!

Benefits Of Laughter

Laughter And Cancer

The battle is half won for a cancer patient if he chooses to fight back, without giving into the disease. Laughter is said to strengthen the immune system and this is crucial in the prognosis of cancer. It is said that, laughter increases the number of white blood cells — disease fighting cells — that destroy the rapidly growing cancer cells.

Laughter And Stress Hormones

Research proves that reducing the levels of stress hormones can be effectively dealt with by laughter therapy. Stress causes the blood vessels to contract and immune activity to decrease. Epinephrine or adrenaline — associated with increasing the heart rate — is decreased and thus, the individual feels calmer and more relaxed. Dopamine or the ‘fight hormone’ that is known to be linked with high blood pressure is also reduced by the famous ‘laughter’!

Laughter And Yoga

Several people either can’t find time or lack the stamina for exercise owing to various medical conditions. Such people can resort to yoga. Yoga is known to help people with any sort of disorder because it works equally on all parts of the body and mind. Now, if you have a problem where you cannot move any part of your body (paralysis and bedridden) then you can resort to laughter yoga. Just about 10min of laughing yoga is equivalent to a 30min cardio workout in the gym!

Laughter And Oxygen

The most vital element that your brain or any part of your body can’t do without, is oxygen. Oxygen is required for cells to live and most people fall sick because of lack of exercise creating a general oxygen deficiency in the cells. This adversely affects the body and the mind. Laughter therapy is known to combine breathing techniques with the use of physical energy and this is said to provide oxygen to the cells. It cures various illnesses such as respiratory diseases like bronchitis.

Laughter And Muscles

While you’re laughing you must laugh whole heartedly! Laughing from your belly and not from your throat or chest will do you good. This is effective in relaxing your tightened muscles and you consequently feel more relieved too.

Laughter And Chronic Illnesses

Several people above a certain age (around 50) are more prone to chronic illnesses than people of other age groups. Laughter yoga or laughter therapy is known to decrease the onset or progress of a lot of diseases ranging from arthritis, allergies, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis or any sort of chronic ache/pain.

Laughter may not be a full and final cure to all these troubles but it does build a positive attitude and gives you the energy to move forward. So laugh off to move on!

Our mission is to build a national movement to defend the interests of children in public education and pursue transformative reform, so that America has the best education system in the world.

America’s schools are failing our kids. On this point, the data is clear. While some people blame the kids, or simply want to throw more money at the problem, we know that real change requires a better system — one that puts students’ needs before those of special interests or wasteful bureaucracies.

To succeed in our mission, we’re working with parents, teachers, administrators, and citizens across the country to ensure great teachers, access to great schools, and effective use of public dollars. Together, we’ll demand that legislators, courts, district administrators, and school boards create and enforce policies that put students first. We’ll make sure politicians and administrators recognize and reward excellent teachers, give novice teachers the training they need, and quickly improve or remove ineffective educators. We’ll work to ensure that every family has a number of options for excellent schools to attend, so that getting into a great school becomes a matter of fact, not luck. And we’ll make sure all Americans understand that our schools are not only an anchor for our communities, but an absolute gateway to our national prosperity and competitive standing in the world economy.

We Believe: Great teachers can make a tremendous difference for students of every background; all children deserve outstanding teachers.

Once inside the school, a great teacher is the single most important factor in a child’s education. While there are many factors that influence a student’s ability to learn, a great teacher can help any student overcome those barriers and realize their full potential. For this reason, we’re doing everything we can to make sure teachers are supported and all schools are able to hire and retain the best teachers possible.

We Believe: Attending a great school should be a matter of fact, not luck; every family should be able to choose an excellent school.

In cities across America, parents are unable to enroll their kids in the best public schools — there just aren’t enough seats. We’re working to make sure all families have a range of high quality schools to choose from, because our kids shouldn’t have to rely on a lottery or a certain Zip code to get a great education.

We Believe: Public dollars belong where they make the biggest difference—on effective instructional programs; we must fight ineffective practices and bureaucracy.

Schools need smart spending — not more money. Tax dollars should go toward programs that help our kids, ensure their long-term success, accurately evaluate teacher performance, and produce results — not layers or bureaucracy that only serve to protect the needs of special interests.

We Believe: Parent and family involvement is key to increased student achievement, but the entire community must be engaged in the effort to improve our schools.

Parental engagement is critical to ensuring student success, so we’ll work to get all families more involved in their schools. But lasting reform requires that whole communities get involved in the fight for better schools. Without a widespread, concerted movement that engages all sectors of society, our country will continue to fall further and further behind the rest of the world.

If you agree with our mission, and want to help transform education in your community and throughout America, join us.

ONE FOR ONE

Get inspired and join in on saving the planet and each other. Sign up for a cause today!

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One for One

TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we’re all about. The TOMS mission transforms our customers into benefactors, which allows us to grow a truly sustainable business rather than depending on fundraising for support.

Giving is Catching on…

The TOMS mission of giving shoes has attracted other brands, resulting in unique and successful collaborations. Ralph Lauren sold co-branded Polo Rugby TOMS, giving a matched pair with every pair sold. Element Skateboards has issued limited edition TOMS + Element shoes as well as a One for One skateboard. With every skateboard purchased, one will be given to a child at the Indigo Skate Camp in Durban, South Africa. It is TOMS’ hope that as our One for One movement continues to grow, more and more companies will look to incorporate giving into what they do.

The TOMS Story

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.

As of September 2010, TOMS has given over one million pairs of new shoes to children in need through Giving Partners around the world.

Sienna Miller: Humanitarian Award at Unesco Charity Gala.

Sienna Miller looks gorgeous in a Stella McCartney gown at the UNESCO Charity Gala on Saturday (October 30) held at the Maritim Hotel in Duesseldorf, Germany.

GlobalGiving.co.uk enables you to support well-vetted, grassroots projects all over the world.

You can browse projects from all over the world, give to the ones you are most passionate about, and see the impact of your donations.

Most of the projects on GlobalGiving.co.uk are in the developing world where a small amount of money usually goes a long way, benefiting communities that wouldn’t otherwise have access to supporters in the UK.

Over £17 million has now been raised for 1,500 projects, across GlobalGiving’s US and UK websites. GlobalGiving.co.uk launched in the UK in September 2008, and the website has been averaging 300,000 annual unique visitors.

UK corporate partners and supporters include the likes of Google, Expedia, eBay, Merrill Lynch and the Guardian. GlobalGiving’s success has also started to influence the UK’s wider policy towards overseas development.

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